Tokyo Ramen Girls

Tokyo Ramen Girls

I got the idea when I heard of Tokyo Ramen Girls Festival, a festival in Yokohama with ramen stalls aimed at women. Apparently, in Japan ramen restaurants are seen as places for men, so the festival aims to encourage women to try ramen. I had no idea there was this perception in Japan, but anyway, it gave me the idea for a girl band called Tokyo Ramen Girls. They’d be tough, sassy and full of attitude, a shouty girl band playing raw punk music!

I’ve been sketching them for a while, and finally found the time to draw them up in Illustrator as a finished piece. I’d love to make a tour poster for them, or a tour t-shirt – and wouldn’t it be great if they had a CD?

And: they keep gyoza as pets! Aren’t they cute?

Rough Sketches

Here are some of my rough sketches – the girls went through several character designs before I settled on their style, poses and outfits. I dressed them all the same, in traditional yukata with a modern Harajuku-style look, to make them look cohesive as a group.

The Real Tokyo Ramen Girls Festival

If you want to see more about the real Ramen Girls Festival, there’s a blog post about it here, with a photo of the women who organises, it who I must say looks pretty awesome herself! She even has ramen nails! This is the festival’s official website, and they’re also on Facebook (in Japanese).